The Results of Summer Bowl III

It’s Sunday morning, and I’m trying to keep my mind focused. Took the cameras out for some early morning shooting. Went grocery shopping. Bought some N-gauge train tracks. I’ll explain the N-gauge train tracks in another blog post.

Now it’s time to head over to Recovery Sports Bar and Grille in Troy, site of this year’s Summer Bowl III. Street Academy had won the first championship, then lost the second tournament to Tap This!, and now nearly 30 teams wanted the Silver Shaker Trophy for their own. It was Summer Bowl III, one of the “major” trivia tournaments in the Capital District. The best way to equate it is like this. If Trivia Bowl is the Masters, Summer Bowl is the U.S. Open. If Trivia Bowl is Wimbledon, Summer Bowl is the U.S. Open. If Trivia Bowl were WrestleMania, Summer Bowl would be the U.S. Open.

My trivia teammate Jeremy McNamara arrived, and we ordered our food. Best to order early at trivia tournaments; a restaurant can get overwhelmed when 30 trivia teams all order food at once.

Other teams arrived at Recovery Room, we all talked and shook hands and wished each other well and joked about who was coming in second place and whatnot. And I’ve said this before. We’re all here to play trivia, eat food, drink beer and have a good time. We can all talk junk and trash about each other during the game, when we have our game face on, but when the game is over, it’s still handshakes and congratulations and how are things going and how’s your kid doing in college and congratulations on that job promotion and everything else.

Jeremy and I were ready. So were 27 other trivia teams.

You want the first batch of questions? Here they are. Remember, you get two “skips” if you choose, and you can give two answers on one question as a “double chance” – but note if you get that “double chance” wrong, you lose twice the points.

First round of questions.

(2 pts) This weekend, what city is hosting the Hard Rock Calling Festival in Hyde Park?

(4 pts) What Major League Baseball team’s mascot is known as “The Swinging Friar”?

(6 pts) The July 1946 cover of TIME Magazine featured an artist’s rendition of an atomic bomb exploding with what man’s portrait in the foreground?

(8 pts – double bonus) What rap groups had hits with songs called “Jump” and “Jump Around” in 1992?

(10 pts) For many years of the 20th century, the term “Seven Sisters” referred to a group of competing what?

We nailed the first three questions – London, the San Diego Padres and Albert Einstein – without any trouble, and aced the double-bonus, knowing that the two rap groups were Kris Kross and House of Pain. But we weren’t sure about the “Seven Sisters” – I thought maybe it had something to do with the seven motion picture studios at the time, then I thought it might involve the seven oil companies. We skipped the question. Apparently there were several answers – the “Seven Sisters” could have meant ladies’ magazines, female-enrolled colleges like Vassar and Radcliffe, or – yep – the oil companies.

Because of that skip, we were now ten points behind three teams who had scored a perfect 38 points – the Origami Swans, Just the Tips and Woo Hoo a Go Go. And when you start to lose a lead, it’s very hard to catch up.

Ready for the second round?

(2 pts) What legendary boxer turned 70 on January 17th?

(4 pts) What celebrity chef hosts a show called “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”?

(6 pts) Premiering in late June, what is the name of the cable television sitcom that stars Charlie Sheen?

(10 pts) Early in her career, what actress appeared as a stripper in a 1997 Rolling Stones music video?

Again, we snagged the first three questions – Muhammad Ali, Guy Fieri and Anger Management – without any hesitation. We were only able to get one of the two Broadway shows, guessing Avenue Q correctly and not knowing Joe Pesci was in Jersey Boys. Well, he certainly wasn’t in The Book of Mormon, or we would have gotten some points for that.

But we didn’t know who the actress was that appeared in the Rolling Stones video. Had to burn our skip. GRR And apparently it was Angelina Jolie, and a few teams got that right. Although we did finish the half with 48 points, A Few Cards Short of a Deck were now in the lead and pulling away.

Then comes the third round. And get ready, this round is a tuffy.

(2 pts) Of Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens or Ladies’ Home Journal, which one is the oldest?

(6 pts) What children’s book and movie character frequently visited a family that lived at 17 Cherry Tree Lane?

(8 pts – quadruple bonus) – In what four years did Titanic sink, the Hindenburg blow up, the Space Shuttle Challenger explode, and the Exxon Valdez sink?

(10 pts) The Thursday night NFL season kickoff game is now annually hosted by the defending Super Bowl champions. Which was the last non-championship team to host the game?

Rough round. We guessed Ladies’ Home Journal, and we were right. I wrote down that Eugene Cernan’s memoir was “The Last Man on Iwo Jima,” crossed it out, and moved Cernan from Iwo Jima to the moon. Four more points.

But the character at 17 Cherry Tree Lane? We were floored. We went with Peter Pan. And five seconds before Baker read our incorrect answer, I started to grip. “Damn it,” I said to Jeremy. “It could be Mary Poppins.”

Yep. Mary Poppins. Minus six points for Street Academy, plus six points for the other half of the teams that got it right. 12-point swing.

We did get three of the four “name the year” questions, correctly reciting 1912, 1937 and 1986 – but we said that the Exxon Valdez sank in 1992, which would have been fine – except that it really sank three years earlier, in 1989.

Then came the NFL question. I wrote down “Washington Redskins.” And then I overthought. And thinking that the NFL might have given the game to the New Orleans Saints after what happened to Hurricane Katrina, I crossed out “Washington” and wrote down “New Orleans.”

Yep. Twenty-point swing. Screwed up. It was the Redskins. That sound you hear is me banging my dumb head against the table.

We finished the third round with 62 points, and were looking up – 34 points away – at A Few Cards Short of a Deck, who were pulling away like Tony Stewart at Daytona.

And we were down to our final five questions.

(4 pts) Introduced at the 1904 World’s Fair, “Fairy Floss” is today known as what?

(6 pts) Who played Andy Kaufman’s manager George Shapiro in the movie “Man on the Moon”?

(8 pts – triple bonus) What teams did the Yankees face in the 1960, 1961 and 1962 World Series?

(10 pts) In 2007, “Science” Magazine reported that proteins taken from a T-Rx fossil were most closely linked to hat modern-day animal?

Fairy floss? No-brainer. That’s Cotton Candy.

We whiffed on the Andy Kaufman question – we went with Paul Giamatti, but apparently that was the guy who played Bob Zmuda. George Shapiro – played by Danny DeVito. Oops.

The last two questions, however, saved our fannies. I knew cold that the three Yankees opponents were the Bill Mazeroski-led Pittsburgh Pirates, the “Mantle and Maris” Yankees that beat on the Cincinnati Reds, and the San Francisco Giants who might have won if McCovey had just jumped six feet higher to catch that fly ball. 24-points to the good.

And then Jeremy nailed the last ten-pointer – saying cold to me, “It’s a chicken.” We thought about going with a generic “bird,” but when I asked the host about whether that would be acceptable, he shook his head and said, “Be more specific.” Fair enough. I wrote down “chicken” and handed it in.

Now it’s the final question. The category is American History. And we’re in sixth place with 94 points, looking up at five teams. Not only do we have to get this right – we have to hope that five teams above us get it wrong or bet safe points.

I handed the answer up. Now I had to hope. If one team above Street Academy gets the answer right… then the trophy is theirs.

“We’ve done all we can do,” Jeremy said to me.

“I know,” I said. And I was still angry at myself for coughing up 32 points on Mary Poppins and the Washington Redskins. Great, now I have an image of Robert Griffin III singing “A Spoonful of Sugar.” That’s gonna haunt me for a long time.

Host Kevin Baker read off the teams and their answers. “A lot of different answers to this question,” he said. Team this said 18 stars. Team that said 21 stars. Team so-and-so said 16 stars.

“Our sixth-place team, Street Academy” -

We now pause for the customary boos and jeers and catcalls -

They had 94 points, they bet it all, they said 15 stars.”

“Next up, Team Sky Hawk, they had 96 points, they bet it all, they said 19 stars.”

One bullet dodged. But the Cards are going to get this one. I know they will.

“A Few Cards Short of a Deck, they had 102 points, they bet 91, they said 20 stars.”

Too many. I don’t think there were that many states in the Union by then. But Blue Mooned is going to get this, hell, Wayne knows his history cold and he’s got that savant Nick Wiener on the team with him.

“Blue Mooned, our third place team, they had 106 points, they bet it all, and they said 19 stars.”

Holy crap. There’s still a chance. But Tap This! is going to get this, they’re going to get the trophy back for sure.

“Tap This! is our second place team, they have 110 points, they bet 103, and they said … 16 stars.”

“And our leaders, Woo Hoo a Go Go, they had 118 points, and they bet 103…”

Five seconds and it seemed like 50 years.

“And they said… sixteen stars.”

Which means… and I had to wait until I heard for sure…

Baker said that although we may have had more states by the War of 1812, the flag over Fort William McHenry possessed 15 stars. Which means…

That for the second time in three Summer Bowls…

Team Street Academy WINS!!

Scuse me for a second… I WANT TO PARTY!!! HIT IT, POISON IDEA!!

What, you didn’t know I had some punk rocker in me? Okay. Now that I’ve come back to earth…

Much thanks to everybody who played at Summer Bowl III. You’re all top quality teams and every one of you represent your bars and taverns and grilles and restaurants with class and championship caliber.

Much thanks to the hosts of Trivia Nights Live around the Capital District – Kevin Baker, Steven Murray, General James, Kevin Riley, PJ, Paulie, Ben Hovey, all of you. We wouldn’t have moments like this without your hosting and being all-around great guys.

Much thanks to Brown’s Brewing, my home trivia turf for the past four years, and to the owners of Brown’s for sponsoring my trivia team at these championships.

And of course, I couldn’t have done any of this without my trivia teammate and awesome dude Jeremy McNamara.

Way to go Street Academy. I am up from North Carolina and was playing with my old Woo Hoo team. With the lead and our favorite subject coming up we thought we had a good chance to win. However, the last question was really tough. We went back and forth between 15 and 16 until time was up and unfortunately picked 16. Well better luck next time.

I was actually talking to a scout from the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire show yesterday at the Recovery Room. I almost had him talked into giving you a Chance on the show until he saw your screaming schoolgirl histrionics when you won…then he said that you should try out for Let’s Make A Deal and that he couldn’t believe that the Recovery Room had never banned you.

Congratulations Chuck and Jeremy. At this point in our lives, the gift cards are more valuable to us anyway. We have hit our stride though, so come February, we hope to be so far ahead that no one can catch us.

I agree the staff at the Recovery Room was excellent. I would not want to attend another event at Wolf’s. They don’t deserve to host anything after the Trivia Bowl.
Oh yeah, congratulations Chuck. It was a good, close game.

Thanks Bill C. Your team played a helluva game as well, you were a few points ahead of my team at the half and 3/4 mark.

I think the reason that Recovery Room did a better job of hosting than Wolf’s 1-11 was twofold. First, RR was prepared for a Sunday afternoon crowd that would normally be there to watch Yankees games or college football or NASCAR. I think Wolf’s was unprepared, in that Trivia Bowl was the afternoon before the Super Bowl, and they really didn’t have enough servers and the kitchen got overwhelmed.

The second thing that worked in Recovery’s favor was that the sound system was clear throughout the bar/restaurant. You could clearly hear Baker ask the questions and give the answers. The sound system at Wolf’s is notoriously wonky, and it’s been that way even going back to the days when that place was Old Chicago.

Chuck, let me tell you something – you are smart, in fact very smart, at trivia, but at the same time you’re just one of many people to think my last name is spelled “Wiener”. It’s Weiner, and I proudly can say I am not affiliated to the former congressman rightfully called a pervert at his resignation speech.

Dear Sir,
I am hoping you can settle a bet. I’ve wagered a considerable sum on the premise that you brought the trophy from Sunday’s trivia game to Brown’s last night where you were posing and preening with it like you had just won a Nobel Prize. Please reply so that I may collect my winnings. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.